Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library Special Collections.

Los Angeles, California 90095-1575

Abstract: Belcher was born in London, England, in 1883. He studied ballet in London and was the principal danseur at the Alhambra Theatre
(1902-09). He founded the Celeste School of Dance in 1916, which supplied dancers for films and produced ballets for Hollywood
Bowl concerts from 1923-36. His career as a film dance director took off in 1918 when he staged dances for D.W. Griffiths'
Broken Blossoms. He was the trainer and coach of many film performers including Beth Beri, Mary Pickford, Pola Negri, Ramon Navarro, Nanette
Fabray and Shirley Temple. The collection consists of material related to Belcher's involvement with the dance community.
Includes issues of various dance periodicals, articles by and submitted to Belcher, as well as Belcher's notes, sketches,
scrapbooks, and teaching materials. Also includes a taped interview of Belcher and a paper titled Ernest Belcher, the father
of ballet in Southern California.

Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Belcher was born in London, England, in 1883; studied ballet in London and was the principal danseur at the Alhambra Theatre
(1902-09); came to Los Angeles, 1915; founded Celeste School of Dance in 1916, which supplied dancers for films; produced
ballets for Hollywood Bowl concerts, 1923-36; his career as a film dance director took off in 1918 when he staged dances for
D.W. Griffiths'
Broken Blossoms; also worked in silent era films for directors Cecil B. de Mille, Mack Sennett, and Thomas H. Ince; trainer and coach of
many film performers, including Beth Beri, Mary Pickford, Pola Negri, Ramon Navarro, Nanette Fabray and Shirley Temple; died
on February 24, 1973 in Los Angeles.

Scope and Content

Collection consists of material related to Belcher's involvement with the dance community. Includes issues of various dance
periodicals, articles by and submitted to Belcher, as well as Belcher's notes, sketches, scrapbooks, and teaching materials.
Also includes a taped interview of Belcher and a paper titled Ernest Belcher, the Father of Ballet in Southern California.
The notebooks contain sketches and drawings related to Belcher's choreography and dance instruction. Photographs are of Belcher's
students and family, and of various productions.

Organization and Arrangement

Arranged in the following series:

Articles for publication.

Teaching materials.

Photographs.

Notebooks containing Belcher's notes and sketches.

Programs, scores, and scrapbooks.

Dance periodicals.

Interview.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.